


Are Those Your Stars?

by Esuna



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 5.0 spoilers, I really don't know how to tag this blblblbl, Implied Feelings, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 22:44:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20104843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esuna/pseuds/Esuna
Summary: 5.0 spoilers! // teeny fic // you miss someone who hadn't taken the time to say goodbye to you.





	Are Those Your Stars?

**Author's Note:**

> last warning, semi-mild 5.0 spoilers! please finish the ShB MSQ before reading.

When you had returned to your inn room, all you had wanted was to see Ardbert’s face.

In your mind’s eye, you could see him smile, hear him mumble about how relieved he was that finally, after years and years of wandering as a ghost, fraying at the edges, he had helped this world—_his_ world. And it was thanks to you. He’d comment on the irony, a smirk on his face, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed in a look of contemplation that made him seem so much older, so much wiser.

Crossing the room, you realise just how empty and lonely this place feels without his presence.

Would you have teased him for his awkward congratulations? Thanked him? It wouldn’t matter—he’d find some way to flip the conversation back to you. Ardbert never liked to talk much about himself. In fact, you’d have wagered money that he was embarrassed to do so, if the way his eyes widened and his arms fell to his sides were anything to go by. You couldn’t really blame him. How many times had you felt the same way?

You press your fingers against a pane of glass, but you don’t push, not yet. You wait a moment, and you hold you breath as you do, because you’re hoping—_praying_—to hear his voice chime up behind you, but it doesn’t come. You remind yourself, jaw tense, that Ardbert isn’t here; he isn’t coming back. He gave himself to you, put his everything into helping you stand when it felt like the bones in your body were fracturing under the weight of the dark. He’s gone, and so you push the window and it swings open, revealing a dark sky littered with thousands of stars that twinkle at you, etching their light into your eyes.

Is he up there? In the heavens, meeting your gaze without you even knowing? You smile weakly, and reach a hand out, as if you could pluck one of the tiny lights from the cosmos.

“Ardbert. You bastard. You could have at least said goodbye.” Your arm falls limp, but your hand clenches into a fist. “_Bastard_.”

You hang your head, squeezing your eyes shut. You were the only one who could see him, and now he’s gone it feels like he’s the only one who could see _you_—at least, in a way different to the others. The Scions were your friends, and they did their best (especially Alisaie, who took it upon herself to show the pain you felt for _your_ sake), but Ardbert… he’d walked in your shoes, knew how to speak to you; he told you things plainly, didn’t sugar-coat his words overmuch, but now? Now it’s just you.

_But it’s not just you; it’s us._

Your head snaps up, blinking rapidly as you whip around, staring back into the room. No one’s there., just the emptiness, but the words ring loud and clear in your mind.

_It’s us._

Your press your hand to your chest. You remember: two fractions of a soul rejoined. You’re together—you’re closer now than when he’d been your ghostly companion. You heave a sigh, but you can’t help the chuckle that escapes you as you realise why he hadn’t said goodbye.

Because it wasn’t.

If anything, this was a _welcome home_.

**Author's Note:**

> idk, it's 7:55am and i haven't slept yet, yeehaw.


End file.
